Superbacker

I'm surprised that some backers never got their rewards. I received mine and the marshmallows were heavenly! I was actually looking to purchase another batch when I just today learned about the fire back in February. Count me as one backer who hopes that they consider creating a new Kickstarter project to re-start their business. They had a great thing going and I hope they give it another try someday.

just decided to check in on this since it had been awhile since I heard an update, I almost forgot about the plushie they said they were making if you donated more, and to learn that the place had a fire, omg! that is sad news. No wonder I never got a plushie. and seeing the link, I'm so heartbroken for them. I can't donate, so all I can send it my prayers that they find something good from this.

In my experience, Spring Barnickle is a liar and a scam artist -- she took over $500 from me, never responded to any of my communications, never made one effort to communicate with me, and I never got a single Kerfluffle from this kickstarter. Hate to say it, but is there any proof this fire happened?

It is sad to hear that their kitchen burned down.
I agree with several othere here about the quality of the Marshmallows.
They were fantastic. I too had high hopes of ordering more from them.
I also donated 215 USD to the kickstarter campain. I also had good contact
with Spring via e-mail.
I'm sad to say that to date they have only shipped apx 70 USD worth to me.
What is even worse is the fact that long before this fire they simply stopped
answering mail. This makes me consider this campain as a huge failure.
It took me by surprise I have to say. Nothing seemed out of order at any time.
Well until they stopped answering that is.
I guess this is learning money: after all all kickstarter campains has a chance of failure.
Never donate anything you can not live without.

But of all campains I have donated to (75+) this is the most surprising one.
I guess you never really know....

Every time I ordered from them after my initial Kickstarter pledge arrived, they always came in the mail 2-3 days later (I have placed 4 orders since) and none of them had mold, were in the new packaging to ward off mold, and tasted delicious. As for the plushies, here is a quote from Spring in an email I received posted on 10/24/2013:

Re: plushies, I can only respond with a long sigh. They turned into a disappointing ordeal from the moment we started trying to find suppliers. The normal process for any kind of custom toy is that you negotiate terms and pricing, provide a design, commission a sample, then place your order with any changes based on the sample. I had already experienced that exact process when I ordered the keychains, so I assumed plushies would be equally simple. I assumed wrong...

Commissioning custom plush toy samples costs $150-$200 each time, and we worked with two different manufacturers who wound up providing inferior quality. I couldn't place an order with either of them in good conscience, but there's no refund on the samples in that case. (If you place an order with a manufacturer, they take the price paid for the sample off of your final tab.) The examples they provided of their past work during the negotiation process were much better quality, but I've discovered there's no way to predict what will be produced next if integrity is removed from the equation.

After the first time, it took months to find more suppliers, negotiate terms again, and start the next sample. When the second sample was also a flop, I took a break. At that point, a third of our plushie budget was gone, and we hadn't even placed an order yet! After much frustration, I have finally narrowed down a supplier that I (mostly) trust, but they are in China, the sample process alone will take another two months, and their minimum order number is far higher than we'd originally planned on.

I am hoping to get the plushies in production after the holidays -- not forgotten, but most definitely on hold until I can think about them without making my blood pressure rise. Turns out handmade marshmallows are much easier to produce than their plush counterparts! :) That's just part of the Kickstarter experience, I think. When a business doesn't yet exist, the rewards and stretch goals are still just plans and ideas, and every new business is bound to encounter unexpected adventures. I did as much research as I could and made thoughtful, informed decisions, but there's no accounting for the human element sometimes. Plushies taught me some important lessons as a business owner, and the best I can do is carry that knowledge forward with a good attitude.

Nice to know I will never get what was owed or even the hint of a refund. This whole venture sounded like a good investment, but has been nothing but a terribly run mess. Now she never has to deliver the plushes or any of her original outstanding orders. I honestly wish I had not invested in this project; it's been nothing but lies, deception, and avoidance.

@Astrea: The business/webstore itself is still alive/working. I have ordered a few products a while back myself. To be honest if it was just the Kerfluffles themselves I have to comment on I'd say the product was top notch and worth the money I sunk in (again this is just *me* we're talking about here. As the comments have shown a few backers weren't so lucky as me).

......But the plushies *were* a stretch goal for the higher non international backers and as an International backer I had to throw in some extra cash for it... so it's disappointing somewhat that the plushies have done a disappearing act.

I was just thinking about ordering these for Valentine's - having received my rewards last year and enjoying them - and saw the link to Kickstarter on the store webpage so I decided to see if anyone is still around. I'm astounded that there are still outstanding rewards and that all the plushies appear to be MIA. Now I'm not sure about ordering anymore...is the web store still active?

@JBV: I assume most people (like moi) have moved on or have plain forgotten at this point. Thats not to say I wouldn't mind getting the plushie but honestly I have other things to worry about and I *did* get the product w/ minimal fuss.

I received my $25 marshmallows a while ago, but, like others, still no plushie. Ho hum. (Glad to know I'm not alone on this one, though.) If they're never going to get made, even a refund would suffice.

My order from October 2012 still shows unfulfilled if I log in to their website. The unfulfilled piece is the plushie. I did receive the mallows.

Its interesting, I email they asking about the plushie and I get no answer. I send an email from a secondary email address pretending to be a potential new customer asking questions about their mallows and I get a reply. When I responded explaining what I did - boom - dead silence.

So long story short, sounds like we will never get the damn plushie. I guess I should have known better.

This is rediculous.
This is not right. I am going to report this to my CC company and have them get my money back. KS should step in. How is this allowed? I messaged KS and they didn't directly say it, but only in extreme stances of fraud will they step in. My question is what's their definition of fraud?
I want my money back or the product. I believe our pledges cannot be fille. She has not shown good faith. She has avoided answering our question, and as such we desrve an explanation or a refund! If you agree copy and paste this, maybe that way she or Kickstarter will actually pay attention.

Just to be clear, I used to get replies from Spring immediately early on, but from the moment she sent the update saying "my husband is pissed cos trolls made my daughter and ask me why people can be so cruel when you work so hard", from that moment, anyone from Kerfluffles stopped reading anything from Kickstarter, not one more personal reply/comments and not many updates.

If you didn't get your marshmallows, just send an email to the company directly, and try a friend's email address (some emails addresses get blocked for some reason, I think she's got an aggressive spam filter on).

Such a shame that she got buried by a lack of business experience + 50x the expected amount of orders, means I'm not even trying to get my mold bags replaced, and have had my last kerfluffle.

As a side note, it's pretty funny that kerfuffle means "a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views." Worked out pretty accurate! ;)

I'm worried. At the time of writing I have only received 1/3 of the backer rewards. Despite many e-mails sent there has not been any reply since summer 2013. This is not a good sign at all. Wonder if something serious has happened?

Superbacker

I eventually did receive an email from the owner. She was a little upset that I was upset...I guess I've forgotten that this really isn't a business with a full staff - it sounds like one person with a dream...So, if I ever get my plushie, great. If my flavors come, okay. Kickstarter is not a government bond...there is some risk here....

I had send her 3-4 email asking what is going on and what kind of favour I can select. No response. Instead of asking what is going on, I just send her the list of favour I want, total 20 packs. On 8 June, I receive email of shipment. If I remember correct it is 2-3 weeks after I sent her the request.

The packing is much better than the first international shipment trial. It even come with ice pack and every pack is zip locked with "dry pack" inside. When the package arrive the marshmallow did NOT melt and form one piece. The marshmallow only slightly stick together and I can separate them without any problem. Every piece are still in good shape.

Moldy.
I cannot really tell. 2/20 are at the stage of almost moldy but still eatable. I try them and I didn't get sick. Sorry I cannot remember what favor it is. The rest are fine. Actually I think the cold pack is not really necessary. 1) The ice pack no longer cold after 4 days of transportation. 2) it will make the marshmallow wet when the temperature change... I guess this is the reason why some marshmallow sticks together.

Anyway, I still have 30 dozen to go and I will only send my request much later... Hope she is not that busy few months later -_-

Thanks

BTW, I didn't ask for the keychains, t-shirt whatever, I specially request for marshmallow only. So I have no idea about the status of those things.

Has anyone heard anything about vegan kerfluffles? I got an email a few weeks ago asking for my shipping information, but, I haven't heard anything since. I see the kerfluffles website says they are still in the works. We were never given a timeline for the vegan version so I'm not really mad that it has been so long but a little better customer service would be appreciated. Kindly politely sincerely does anyone know Spring in real life and can you ask her to send out an update. Perhaps I am being naive but I believe each and every one of these customer service issues could be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Superbacker

I pledged at the $25 level and added on for the plushie, I never received anything and emailed several different times to every account I could find to contact her with, and have left several comments on updates as well, with no responses. I have had a few issues with other kickstarters as well, but with patience they usually tend to end up just fine. And I really don't have a problem waiting, but when there is absolutely no communication to let you know what is going on, simply being patient doesn't really matter anymore. At this point obviously nothing will come of this kickstarter, I just don't understand why some people have had no problems communicating with her, while the rest of us exist in some black hole.

Superbacker

STILL NEVER RECEIVED ANYTHING. NOT A MARSHMALLOW, A MUSHMALLOW, NOR MOLDMALLOW. NOT EVEN AN EMAIL RESPONSE. WHAT A JOKE! YOUR SILENCE IS DEAFENING. Karmamallow is coming for you, Spring. Nobody puts Karmamallow in the corner.